Thoothukudi

Thoothukudi ; தூத்துக்குடி
State :	India
State :	Tamil Nadu
District :	Thoothukudi
Sub-district :	Thoothukudi
Location :	8 ° 48 ' N , 78 ° 10' E Coordinates: 8 ° 48 ' N , 78 ° 10' E
Height :	8 m
Area :	90.6 km²
Residents :	320,466 (2011)
Population density :	3537 inhabitants / km²
	Maria Schnee basilica in Thoothukudi

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Thoothukudi ( Tuttukkudi ; Tamil : தூத்துக்குடி Tūttukkuṭi [ t̪uːt̪ːɯkːuɖi ]), formerly anglicised Tuticorin , is a port city in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu with around 320,000 inhabitants (2011 census). The Thoothukudi City Municipal Corporation is divided into 4 zones (North, South, West, East) and 60 wards .

It is located on the Gulf of Mannar , around 100 kilometers northeast of Cape Komorin , the southernmost point of mainland India, and 530 kilometers southwest of Chennai . It is the capital of the district of the same name .

Thoothukudi was already an important port city in ancient times. In modern times it was an important base for European colonial powers. Newly founded by the Portuguese around the middle of the 16th century , Thoothukudi became Dutch in 1658 and British possession in 1825 .

In the past, pearl fishing was the main livelihood of the population. Today the city is the location of the cotton, fishing, salt and luxury food industries. Opened in 1974, the man-made seaport is one of India's 12 major overseas ports and, alongside Navi Mumbai and Chennai, the main transshipment point for container goods. The port shows high annual growth rates, not least thanks to its favorable location near the main sea traffic routes. In 2004/05 15.81 million tons were handled here. Of this, imports accounted for 12.06 million tons (76 percent), mainly coal, general cargo , fertilizers or fertilizer base materials and copper concentrate. 3.75 million tons were exported, mainly general cargo, granite, building materials and salt. There is also a domestic airport in Thoothukudi. Since June 2011 passenger ferries have been operating from Thoothukudi to Colombo . After a thirty-year break due to the civil war, there is now a ferry connection between India and Sri Lanka again .

65 percent of Thoothukudi's residents are Hindus , 30 percent are Christians and 5 percent are Muslim . As in all of Tamil Nadu, the main language is Tamil, which is spoken by 98 percent of the population as their mother tongue.